The cold wind blew through the girl's long light brown hair, the hem of her coat fluttering in the wind. With a slight smile on her delicate little face, she took a step back and said sweetly, "Jacob, are you happy to see me?"

Her voice was very pleasant.

Jacob looked at the girl's face. It didn't look different than he remembered, but every part was so exquisite. He was stunned for a moment. With very little makeup, she displayed one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen, with a deep dimple on the left side of her cheek. Her emerald green eyes looked like a mystical phoenix when wearing red eyeliner.

The young girl had a slim figure and was very beautiful. Wearing a black tank top and dark blue pants, she was the definition of young and healthy, especially with her slightly tanned skin color that looked exceptionally healthy.

“Yes, I am, Abel. Good to see you here.” Jacob smiled gently, emitting a comforting aura as he put his arms around her for another hug and kissed her cheek. "Come in."

"Okay." She walked in after him and closed the door.

"Lock the door," Jacob called back to her, “How did you get here so fast? It's not even 7 am yet."

"Oh, right." Abel closed the door with the key and followed him into the kitchen and then answered his question. “I woke up early and read your message, then I got ready quickly and asked for an uber after notifying mom and dad.”

It was the first time she had been to her brother's house since he moved in. She looked around with curiosity at how her brother was living.

"I see." Jacob stopped pacing, pointing towards the small couch that only fit three people snuggly.

“First of all, sit down. What I'm going to say will make you fall backwards.” Jacob was kind of joking, but at the same time serious.

“Why are you acting so secretive?” Abel pouted, her pale eyes twinkling. She was so cute.

Jacob laughed a little, but then got into serious mode again and said, "First of all, I'm Achilles."

“...” Abel's mind stopped working. She swore there was some problem with her brain that made her think that her brother said he was the first player that was in all the news, be it national, even international, that Achilles fellow.

“Can you repeat that, please? I think I heard you wrong.” She laughed awkwardly, "Haha, I think I heard you say you're Achilles. That's a pretty funny joke, haha..."

"Yes, you heard correctly," Jacob said deadpan.

Seeing her reaction of disbelief, he sighed. It was to be expected. After all, he himself thought that if it was himself hearing this, he wouldn't believe it.

Abel looked at Jacob in a daze. She was still trying to relate Achilles with her own brother.

“I understand your surprise. After all, being the first player brings me a lot of advantages, and you must have surmised this when you experienced some advantages of leveling up, and so on. So you should understand more or less,” Jacob said slowly.

His deep, husky voice was indescribably seductive and charming as he continued, “My current statuses are far beyond my level. If I were to give exact numbers, I should be around level 30 for what I can go up against.”

"Wow!" Abel finally reacted.

She looked at Jacob with her bright eyes. She wasn't a fool; Abel more or less understood the benefits that Jacob would get from being the first player. At least, she knew that he had several achievements, as many of them were already announced globally and were being talked about on the internet, even on Network TV.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“So, like, do you have extra benefits, I mean, something only you have access to?” Abel asked. She was smart enough to notice from the initial words exchanged with Jacob for her to understand that he probably had some kind of privileges.

"Yes, some. Although I can't see their effects for some reason, I have some privileged passive skills from being the first player.” Jacob listed a few he discovered.

Even in his memories he knew Abel was trustworthy. He didn't need to keep this a secret since ignorance wasn't exactly bliss, at least not in this situation. A good example would be her need to try to protect him, thinking he was weak and possibly ending up getting herself hurt or even dying. This sort of thing happened several times throughout human history: Sometimes people were stronger than they appeared but didn't let those close to them know and ended up losing someone important out of indulgence.

As they talked, Jacob listed some things that would happen in the future, as well as some things about 'The Return'. Of course, at this point, he told a white lie, which was to say that because of his privilege from being first, he had access to information that no one else could have.

“So, the real apocalypse will happen after the first month...” Abel shuddered as she imagined all kinds of possibilities at the thought that if every action created a reaction, it would have a huge return every 25th of every month.

“Yes, but under no circumstances can you say that to other people,” Jacob warned, “If you do this, maybe at first nobody will believe it, but after the first month, when it actually happens, you'll become a target.”

“It's as serious as that?” Abel was skeptical about this. Obviously, unlike Jacob, she hadn't seen what the world would become and what exactly people would be willing to do if they found out that X person had something special.

*Thum, thump, thump…*

In the living room, it was extremely quiet. Abel's strong heartbeat was particularly obvious after listening to what Jacob said.

"Yes, a lot they'd be willing to do a lot. Listen to what I'm saying. If anyone finds out that there's any chance you or someone close to you could have access to privileged information that no one else has... not only are you in danger, but me, Mom, Dad, or anyone else you know closely would become a walking target.” Jacob's tone was tolerant and forgiving, but full of warnings.

The beautiful and refined looking girl was silent for a moment. Her bright eyes gradually darkened, “I see. I promise not to tell anyone, but… what about our parents?”

"It's okay to tell them," Jacob replied as he rubbed the pouting girl's hair, "Our parents are smart people. They would know how serious this would be, however, mother has a very kind heart, so I know a way to tell her without her doing something she regrets later.”

In this world, everyone had their own meaning for their existence. They had family, friends, lovers and a future. For Jacob, at the moment, he only had his adoptive parents and sister. He didn't want to lose them, but he also knew what he should and shouldn't do.

"I understand," Abel nodded, and then suddenly remembered another matter, "So, as for the Labyrinth, do you really have extra keys?"

“Yeah, I'll get one for you and I hope you can come back later so I can give Mom and Dad one.” Jacob finally smiled. "In addition to the function of killing and earning rewards, there is the store in the labyrinth that opens after the 10th floor and has a way to hide your things in case you are running away from someone."

“This thing sounds very useful.” Abel, who received a blue key, played with it between her thin and delicate fingers, twiddling it with her thumb as she felt the texture. Somehow, she felt it had a really amazing texture, it didn't feel like metal or plastic or anything else she'd ever had physical contact with.

"Oh, right..." Jacob suddenly remembered another matter, "How was Christmas yesterday? Did you guys get to do anything?”

“Nah, it was just another boring Christmas… Well, it was actually a little better than usual, as I enjoyed killing some 'monsters',” She made quotation marks with her fingers and said with a small smile, “Yeah, just some quests, etc. While it is true that this is a worrying situation, I think we should be less worried about what the future holds and just do our best.”

"Yes, I agree." Jacob said, “Only if you know you've done your best can you live better. If you just keep complaining and do nothing to change your situation, don't be surprised if everything goes wrong.”

"Exactly." Abel snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. “Anyway, can I enter the Labyrinth now? I want to get a little stronger before I come back.”

“Mm.” Jacob nodded and said, “I'll borrow the equipment items I've gotten so far. Go to the 15th floor of the Labyrinth and then exit. With the items I currently have, you'll be able to pass the 15th floor with ease, however, going beyond that is out of the question at the moment. Wait to get a little stronger, okay?”

“Yes, I will do as you say.” Abel pursed her lips and smiled, her eyes downcast. "And to think that my brother is Achilles..."

Speaking of which, why did she feel a little smug?

Abel looked back at her brother and couldn't stop smiling. She was genuinely happy that her brother was so powerful now.

Edited by: Azurtha

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